Lesson 5

​O, the clouds bursting with light, fumes of energy.Can we not be the same?In lesson 5, sensing energy, we look to the way we harmonize with the physics of the world. We have a blurred vision of Loren as though she was painted with pastels/ or vibrating.She holds her hands up to catch the skies energy falling into her lap. This attitude is crucial to learning why, what Kobun does beneath his robes, has such value for the health and well being of any individual. When Loren opens her palms, she touches the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth a little behind the gums. Her mouth is mostly closed, forcing her to exhale slowly. Yes, counterintuitively, the energy is gained on the exhale, not inhaled from without. The position of the tongue seems to make exhaling evenly rather hard. In fact, it is out of the way think of how the wind moves the clouds as filling the belly with energy. Gusts are haphazard, however, the tongue restricting the breath insures a slow, steady pressure. The belly responds as if it were a balloon filling with air when the upward tongue is not near the lips. In the next frame Loren gathers her strength--she is a personal trainer. Instead of lifting a barbell, she turns her hands over as if to stop a bouncing ball.I ask her to imagine a ball of energy that she can hold onto. I don't say it is real or not real. If you imagine your hands holding a ball of static electricity you can sense yourself holding onto it.You can lift this ball.Or, you can place the ball over your belly while you expand it. Let the belly envelop the ball. The lines of force from within will radiate outward from the tanden. It is an erratic, jagged feeling.As you stand straight to shift into the hourglass shape, lift your hands into the set position. The ball of energy moves up. The center of it is over the breastbone. The circumference goes from the indent in the knees to the center of the forehead.Step into this circle of self-energy as if you were going through a window.If you extended your fingers with enough thrust when you first caught the ball and allowed the taut palm to grasp the curved surface, you can step back through the window and play with the energy. Hold the center vortex and spin the outer rim. The way this is done is to touch thumb to thumb, middle finger to middle finger.Rapidly open and close your extended hands at 6 to 8 inch intervals. The vortex compresses and expands causing the rim to spin.There may be a weight hanging around your hands after you come to a stop. If so, shake your hands. The weight grows heavier after each year of practice.----when we began Christina and Loren used their hands to reshape their posture.Taut fingers tingledThe tanden bulgedSides rippledShoulders rounded---when they drew in their bellies on the inhale and pushed their butts back with their elbows, they unwittingly generated a ball of ki substance, their chi.After someone reaches the 5th level of mastery they feel their exhale expanding the space the body takes up. ( especially around the head) the ball of ki thatWe developed with rapidly pulsating hands is constantly being pushed out and drawn back in with the breathing technique.The result is that we are not out of balance. The harmony comes when the calm self aligns with the environment. Whatever it is, ki is a function of the mesh. It is barely substantive, yet our senses register a full blast of it.There is the grunt of exertion--But the expression on the face,The look of the master,Determines the outcome.